I Am Special, Just Like Everybody Else

Everybody wants to be special. Doesn’t matter if you are a 5-yr old listening to your teacher preach that onto you, a teenager trying to rebel against authority and find self-identity, or an 85-yr old doing god-knows-what at age 85. Bottom line is: this society saturates our minds with the mantra: “You are special.” True, [...]

Deconstructing Creativity

The concept of ‘creativity’ has been on my mind lately, especially since I now work in an industry where agencies compete with one another on the basis of ingenuity and strategy; it really boils down to a battle of the creative minds.
I went in search of info/knowledge on ‘creativity’ because I was curious to [...]

A Physical Manifestation of Discomfort

Went to a bday party for a friend last night, in which an acquaintance also attended. Not to dish on the guy, but he is one socially awkward fellow. As I sat there observing him (discreetly of course), it suddenly occurred to me that he is actually quite an amazing individual. Usually, discomfort is an [...]

Getting Naked

I recently made a career switch from clinical psychology to the broadly defined world of ‘advertising.’ Today marks my first day at Naked–and I simply had dedicate an entire entry just to document this event. It’s truly a personal ‘goal accomplished.’ This company is home to some of the most brilliant, creative minds in the [...]

Fickle, Fickle

I am a firm believer that our present culture breeds fickleness (this thought is spurred by the observation that my friends are becoming more and more flakey. . . ) Technology probably plays a big role in this phenomenon because it gives people an option to cancel last minute, or find out about something better [...]

Can We Use A Better Term Please?

Slowly but surely, advertising is focusing less on pushing brands and more on creating communication with the consumer. But the fact that ‘consumer’ is still used as the predominant term in describing “people brands want to communicate with” really bothers me. It’s such a de-personalizing word! These ‘consumers’ are consisted of human beings just like [...]

Hooray for Manifestos

One of my favorite publications, Icon, recently released its 50th issue that focused on the concept of manifestos–stating that the age of grandiose ideologies is over. Relativism and apathy reign instead. The magazine goes on to ask 50 influential architects, designers and thinkers to share their thoughts in the form of manifestos.
I read through [...]

Who Wants Some Isolation?

I mentioned in a previous post that current society discourages physical community and prizes isolation. Historically, being ‘isolated’ was a form of punishment: criminals and wrong-doers were banished to the most remote regions possible and turned into ‘outcasts’. Now, isolation has ceased to be a form of deprivation. With increasing congestion (people, traffic, buildings, etc), [...]

The Purposeful Blog

There is an estimated 30 million blogs on the worldwide net with thousands of new ones formed daily. Asides from being a socio-cultural ‘trend’, why is it that online communities are of such great popularity these days? Deconstructing this phenom from a psychological perspective, online communities help fulfill people’s innate need/desire to belong. In this [...]

Racing Rubber Duckies!

I aspire to participate in this annual event one of these years. . . . www.duckrace.com.sg. How much fun would it be to race a rubber duckie and help raise money for charity? Great combination of interests~